Indian board digs deep to boost Olympic hopefuls
Olympic hopefuls in India have been given a massive boost after the
country's cricket chiefs said they would plough millions of dollars into
helping nurture future medal winners.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said the move was
inspired by India's showing at the Beijing Games, where they picked up
three medals beating their record of two which included their first gold
since 1980 and two bronzes.
The BCCI said it would donate 11 million dollars a year to the
National Sports Development Fund, which was set up in 1998 by the
government to mobilise resources for sports other than cricket, which is
by far the most popular sport in the country.
Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra won the country's first ever individual
Olympic gold in 10 metre event, while wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer
Vijender Kumar each won a bronze. The last time India took gold was in
hockey at the Moscow Games.
"We contributed nearly one million dollars to support all our Beijing
bound athletes," BCCI chief executive Ratnakar Shetty told AFP on
Monday.
"But we have now decided to set aside eleven million dollars annually
in view of the country's show in the Beijing Games.
"This fund would be initially used to assist prospective medal
winners in boxing, judo, swimming and archery. But we are open to
helping any other deserving sportsperson from any other discipline."
Shetty said the BCCI will soon announce a committee to make sure the
money was not misused.
"The credit for this unique initiative taken by the Board goes solely
to our president Sharad Pawar, who first thought about it last year.
"After Pawar's proposal, we amended the Board's constitution as it
did not provide for spending funds on any activity not related to
cricket."
Shetty said the BCCI could afford to assist other sports since its
income had almost doubled in the past three years.
"We increased our spending on infrastructure development manifold and
also started a monthly gratis scheme for former players and officials.
After meeting all our targets, we decided to help other sports."
Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill was quick to express gratitude,
saying: "BCCI is our richest sports body and Pawar has been kind enough
to give an annual grant of eleven million dollars for development of
Olympic sports.
NEW DELHI, Tuesday, AFP |